BOWENS GROWS INTO A BIG DEAL

The Dolphins have every reason to blame former coach Jimmy Johnson for the franchise's contract predicament with defensive tackle Tim Bowens.

They also have reason to thank him.

As expected, Bowens decided on Wednesday not to opt out of the final two years of his Dolphins contract. That means Bowens is scheduled to count $6.5 million against the team's 2001 salary cap of $67.4 million.

While having enough room to absorb that figure, the Dolphins face a major cap imbalance if unable to reach a contract extension with defensive end Jason Taylor before Thursday's NFL deadline to name franchise players for the 2001 season. Taylor would count $5.39 million if named the franchise player, which means the Dolphins would have almost 18 percent of their 2001 cap space allocated to two players.

The Dolphins never would have found themselves in this predicament had Johnson believed Bowens would be an important part of the team today.

In 1998, Bowens missed almost all of training camp in a contract holdout stemming from being named the Dolphins' franchise player. The impasse ended when Johnson signed Bowens to a five-year, $25.5-million contract.

The deal was heavily backloaded, with Bowens set to receive $14.5 million in the final two years. Such a large sum indicates Johnson was planning to release Bowens after three seasons to avoid paying the full value of the contract.

Since signing the contract, Bowens has reached a Pro Bowl (in 1998) and missed one start while continuing to evolve as a menacing run-stuffer. The combination of Bowens, defensive tackle Daryl Gardener and middle linebacker Zach Thomas gives the Dolphins an interior defense that ranks comparably with Baltimore's trio of Sam Adams, Tony Siragusa and Ray Lewis.

"He had a good year," said Rick Spielman, the Dolphins' vice president of player personnel. "I don't know how much better he's going to get, but he's one of the better tackles in the league."

To their credit, agents Drew and Jason Rosenhaus envisioned that happening. The structure of Bowens' contract will force the Dolphins to either:

Pay him $6.5 million in 2001;

Offer a lucrative extension that will generate a lower cap number (negotiations are ongoing);

Release him to clear cap room, which is highly unlikely considering the large number of suitors he would draw and the lack of a proven replacement.

"We've put Tim in a position where he could avoid becoming the franchise player again and where he's scheduled to make $14.5 million over the next two years, which is more than any defensive tackle in football in terms of base salary and roster bonuses," Drew Rosenhaus said.

Although he got the Dolphins into this quandary, Johnson deserves credit for designing a contract that brought out the best in Bowens.

When the contract was signed, Bowens was a 25-year-old whose career could have headed farther south than Johnson's Islamorada home. Bowens regularly struggled keeping his weight in check during the offseason, resulting in questions inside the organization about his motivation and NFL longevity. It wasn't until last year that Bowens finally reported to minicamps in shape and assumed a role as a soft-spoken locker room leader.

Without financial motivation to do so because of a backloaded contract, Bowens might have never reached his full potential.

Softer landings

Players rejoice! The artificial turf at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia was removed last week and replaced by a bouncier synthetic surface called NexTurf, which has drawn raves from Atlanta players after being installed at the Falcons' practice complex. The Veterans Stadium field was annually voted the worst in a survey conducted by the NFL Players Association. ... Dick Vermeil says he didn't know Kansas City was a projected $31 million over the 2001 salary cap when agreeing to become the Chiefs' coach. Look for the Chiefs to clear roughly $13.4 million by releasing running backs Kimble Anders and Donnell Bennett, who played at the University of Miami and Cardinal Gibbons, cornerbacks Carlton Gray and James Hasty, guard Jeff Blackshear and tackle Marcus Spears. Kansas City also must restructure the contract of quarterback Elvis Grbac, who is scheduled to receive a $10 million roster bonus in March. ... Cleveland quarterback Tim Couch is excited about playing in the offense being installed by new coordinator Bruce Arians, who is stressing shorter drops and more timing routes with receivers. Couch said the offense will look similar to that in Indianapolis, where Arians was quarterbacks coach the past three seasons. "There's a lot of slants and crossing routes," Couch said. "It's a play-action offense, so we've got to establish a great running game. You see Indianapolis doing the play-fakes with Peyton [Manning] and Edgerrin [James], and then Marvin [Harrison] running wide open down the field. If we can get the running game going with this offense, it'll really make it go." That means finding a marquee running back, which could happen when Cleveland selects with the third pick in April's draft.

XFL notes

The television ratings drop for the second week of XFL games was even worse than expected, with 47 percent of the audience failing to return. The loss of young male viewers, which is a demographic the XFL thought would be the backbone of the league because of its close ties with the World Wrestling Federation, should be especially concerning. The teenage and 18-to-24-age demographics were down 70.5 percent from the XFL's Feb. 3 debut on NBC to last weekend's Chicago vs. Los Angeles game. Those fans won't come back unless XFL founder Vince McMahon starts holding WWF matches at halftime, which I expect if the ratings continue to slide below the minimum promised to advertisers. ... Jim Druckenmiller's XFL stint is proving even less productive than when he was warming the bench for the Dolphins in the 2000 season. Druckenmiller was Memphis' third-string quarterback last weekend behind Marcus Crandell (eesh) and Craig Whelihan (ugh). Druckenmiller and Whelihan are rotating games at backup quarterback, although that could change if Crandell continues to struggle. ... The Xtreme lived up to its nickname during last week's game, with XFL cameras regularly showing three paid strippers in a hot tub at the Los Angeles Coliseum. With stunts like that, it's understandable why Green Bay coach Mike Sherman won't let his kids watch what Dick Ebersol, NBC chairman of sports, has said would be "family friendly entertainment." "They don't know the difference between the XFL and the NFL," Sherman said. "All of a sudden they think it's OK to act like an idiot. It's hard enough to keep our guys from acting like idiots. Now, [the XFL] is paying them to do so. Unfortunately, our society caters to this form of entertainment. That's an unfortunate side note to this whole thing."